Kitchen Solutions for Ports and Dockyards

I’ve worked with a number of ports and dockyards during my time at PKL, helping provide catering infrastructure solutions for a range of different projects.

These are always interesting projects to work on as every job has different requirements and site layouts. As a result, we have created different kitchen options to use as a starting point to design a solution to suit each individual project.

With various options available for these sites in particular, I thought it might be useful to outline the main PKL solutions that are typically specified for ports and dockyards.

Dockyards are such large and complex sites that we have created a number of dockyard-friendly catering solutions over the years for our clients.

Here’s a quick overview of our top kitchen solutions for the sector:

Modular Kitchens and Dining Facilities

Where a cook and serve option is required, we offer three different sizes of portable kitchen, all with service hatches to allow a grab and go meal service. These self-contained kitchens use brand name commercial catering equipment for the storage, preparation, production and service of meals.

We also offer fully integrated temporary catering arrangements that comprise multiple buildings linked together to provide a tailor made kitchen solution. These can be linked to an existing dining structure, or to a servery building where contractors can collect their meals to be eaten in their own mess buildings. Alternatively, we can provide temporary dining facilities too.

Mobile Galley Kitchens

For large or spread out sites, we offer mobile galley kitchens, which have proven to be popular for use in ports and dockyards. These kitchen trailers are fully mobile and can be moved around site, offering maximum flexibility and enabling catering services to be easily accessible to staff working in all locations.

Read this case study on a modular kitchen and mobile galley feeders that we supplied to a dockyard.

Food Cube Satellite Feeding Stations

Our Food Cube satellite feeding stations are designed to ease the pressure on canteen servery lines and save remote workers from spending valuable time getting to and from meal breaks. Food is cooked and prepared in the main canteen and then transferred to the Food Cube located elsewhere on site, where it can be kept warm or refrigerated prior to being served. The Food Cube design allows for the retailing of hot and cold meals, snacks, sandwiches, and hot and cold drinks.

More Info?

For more information on our catering infrastructure solutions for ports and dockyards, give me a call or visit the PKL website.

MPBA Membership

I'm delighted to announce that PKL is now a member of the Modular & Portable Building Association.

In its own words:

"For more than 75 years, the Modular & Portable Building Association has been the voice and leading authority on the manufacture and application of both temporary and permanent factory based construction technologies in the UK.

The heart of modular construction technology in the UK, the MPBA works closely with Government and other regulatory bodies to ensure that the interests of the Modular or Offsite Industry are the focus of its activities.

In addition to the main Council, the Technical, Health & Safety and Marketing committees are constantly working hard to promote all the benefits that the industry is capable of providing."

All members are thoroughly assessed before joining, and the MPBA has developed an enforceable code of ethics and practices.

As well as PKL being a member, I now also sit on the committee as a member of the main MPBA Council. I'm looking forward to attending the next committee meeting in November and working with the MPBA in the future.

New Brochures!

Today is a momentous day here at PKL - after months of hard work, the last of our 5 new brochures has been delivered from the printers!

From Temporary Kitchens, Catering Equipment and Event Kitchens, to Permanent Kitchens and PKL Transworld, no matter what your requirement, we've got a shiny new brochure to give you all the info you need. We've also got a brilliant new folder to keep the brochures together, featuring a useful insert which gives a company overview and information on our service and accreditations. They all have that lovely new brochure smell too. What more could you want, eh?

To order a brochure, please visit our website here or give us a call.

PKL on The One Show

Eagle-eyed viewers might have spotted my fleeting appearance on The One Show on Monday, talking about PKL KitchenPods as a potential solution for schools requiring new kitchen facilities to help with implementing the School Food Plan and Universal Infant Free School Meals.

The feature looked at the issues some schools will be facing in getting ready for the changes, and touched on several potential solutions. John Vincent from The School Food Plan helped a headteacher explore a number of options to ensure her school could meet the Plan's recommendations. The PKL KitchenPod at Bush Hill Park Primary School in Enfield was featured (thanks to headteacher Sue Crisp) as an example of modular kitchen buildings which provide flexible procurement options - including purchase, rental or lease - which can help schools without funding for an upfront purchase.

The feature also discussed options such as the local authority or private caterers borrowing money to invest in school kitchens, with the knowledge that a good facility will generate a profit, enabling the money to be paid back over time. Bringing the catering in-house was another suggestion put forward in the feature. This option can provide a great solution to schools whose current catering company may no longer represent the highest quality and most cost-effective solution when faced by the increased numbers of children who will be entitled to free school meals from September.


One of our PKL Food Cubes was installed at the BBC studios for the day, for a live piece about how modular servery buildings can provide a solution to queues and congestion in school dining rooms. Mary Berry seemed to enjoy cooking pancakes in the Cube, describing it as "splendid" when interviewed by presenters Matt and Alex. Sadly we're not able to include a free Mary Berry with every Food Cube, but we do supply a variety of features and equipment,which we hope makes up for it!

I had a fantastic afternoon down at The One Show studios, watching rehearsals and pre-recordings. The studio is much smaller than I'd expected, but is run with such efficiency that a larger space really isn't necessary! I was also surprised to find that the outside filming area where our Food Cube was located is very open to the public, with people passing on the street able to watch from only a few metres away.

During a break in rehearsals, I had a chat with presenter Matt Baker, who was particularly interested in the issue as his own children don't currently have a hot meal option at school.

It was also nice to catch up with John Vincent from the School Food Plan and hear about the filming he'd done for the feature. I'm a member of the School Food Plan's Small Schools Taskforce, so we had plenty to talk about!

The show will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer until 10th March 2014, so watch it here asap if you missed it. The school meals feature starts 16 minutes in and lasts for about 10 minutes.

For more information on PKL school solutions, visit our dedicated schools website at www.schoolkitchens.com.

Preparing for Universal Infant Free School Meals

It’s now only a few months until schools will be required to offer free school meals to all pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.

While many schools have great enthusiasm for the changes, there are also a number of schools who feel daunted by the challenge and don’t know where to start! PKL have been active in the education sector for a number of years, supplying a whole range of catering infrastructure solutions, so here are my top tips to get you started.

Kitchen Facilities

This is one of the greatest causes of worry at some schools, but this need not be the case. There is government funding in place to assist schools with procuring kitchen facilities, and although the timeline may seem short, I can assure you that there is plenty of time to have everything in place by September!

The first thing to do is calculate how many meals your kitchen will need to produce each day. It’s worth bearing in mind that the pilot schemes found that school meal take-up also increased in other year groups following the introduction of free school meals for infants.

You should then make a list of all your current catering equipment and facilities (if you already have some) so you can ascertain what you’ll need in order to provide the meals required. Now’s also the time to consider new menu options and ideas, and plan accordingly.

It might be that you need to start from scratch with a new kitchen building and catering equipment, or you may just need to upgrade existing buildings or equipment. Either way, help is available in terms of both funding and advice. Visit our dedicated website, schoolkitchens.com to see our school solutions and relevant funding info. There is also an excellent “Q&A for Head Teachers” page on the School Food Plan website, which should help answer a lot of the questions you may have.

PKL Kitchen Options: If you need to install a new school kitchen or extend an existing one, take a look at our KitchenPod options, or if you need to procure or upgrade your catering equipment, take a look at our specially-designed KitchenFM for Schools option.

Dining Space

As well as your kitchen facilities, you should also consider how your dining space will cope with an increased take-up of school meals. You might need to think about options such as staggered lunchtimes or additional sittings in order to help tackle queues and congestion in the dining hall.

Now is also the time to think about the practicalities of your dining space and how it can be optimised. You may be fortunate enough to have a dedicated dining hall, or you may use other spaces such as the school hall or classrooms. Whatever your current setup, there are likely to be ways in which you can tweak things to work better, be it new décor or layouts, an extension, additional dining areas or a whole new dining hall. The dining environment has been shown to have a real impact on pupils’ behaviour and engagement with school meals, so should not be overlooked.

Did You Know? PKL can also help with supplying dining areas as well as kitchens and catering equipment. Get in touch to see how we can help.

I appreciate that preparing for the implementation of free infant school meals may seem like an impossible challenge for some schools, but it needn’t be the nightmare you imagine. At PKL, we have a dedicated team who provide kitchen and catering equipment solutions to the education sector. They can help advise you on the best PKL products to suit your specific school, and offer a wealth of experience and expertise to help you through the procurement process. Take a look at schoolkitchens.com and please do get in touch if you’d like to explore your options further.

Lee has had over 19 years’ experience providing schools across the country with catering infrastructure solutions. He is passionate about school meals and was a driving force behind PKL becoming the founding corporate partner of the Children’s Food Trust. He is also a member of the Small Schools Taskforce, helping to provide solutions and support for small and rural schools in implementing the School Food Plan.

Walkthrough demonstration illustrates Care Home KitchenPods

Care Home KitchenPods from PKL

PKL has recently launched a walkthrough demonstration of our Care Home KitchenPod.

The video guide includes a complete walkthrough of a single unit and 360 degree view of the outside of the building as well as providing examples of multi unit facilities and the range of external finishes available.

View the walkthrough guide at the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz1mAHrQ_SM&feature=colike

The Care Home KitchenPod from PKL, is a permanent modular kitchen building which is constructed off site. The kitchen arrives at your care home complete with catering equipment of your choice and ready to connect to services.

KitchenPods are available as a single modular unit, or a larger open plan multi-unit facility depending on the size of kitchen required.

There is a wide range of external finishes available for the Care Home KitchenPod, including wood cladding, brick slip, vinyl wrap or your choice of painted exterior. This means that the pod can be easily matched to existing buildings on site to help with planning regulations.

The Care Home KitchenPod offers a perfect solution for care homes looking to increase their revenue, by turning their existing kitchen into extra bedroom space. Our KitchenPods can easily link onto existing buildings and can be delivered and installed from as little as six weeks from order. Delivery and installation is undertaken using our own transport fleet and team of engineers.

KitchenPods are available on a contract rental basis, meaning that there is no large capital outlay and the revenue generated by the extra bed space can easily cover the cost of the kitchen. Alternatively, KitchenPods are available for a straight capital purchase.

In both cases, the KitchenPod is supplied with a full service and maintenance package covering the building and equipment inside. This means that the headache of looking after the kitchen lies with PKL and all parts, service, maintenance and labour are already covered within the cost, meaning that there are unexpected surprise when it comes to kitchen costs.

To find out more about the PKL KitchenPod, and our complete range of temporary and permanent kitchen solutions, please visit our website or contact PKL using the details below.

Web: www.pkl.co.uk
Email: postbox@pkl.co.uk
Tel: 0845 840 4242